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How To: Marketing a Condo Project In ’09

At the start of every year I think it’ll be the year that the condo marketing folks will embrace the Internet and shift their marketing focus online. Every year they haven’t, but I bet this year will be the year they do it because they felt so much pain in Q408. Those three months are going to cause them to think long and hard about how they need to restructure their efforts to be competitive in a completely different marketplace.

If I were in their position this is what I’d do.

Understand Your Buyers

The reality of today’s real estate market is that folks don’t believe condo marketers or real estate agents any more. Why? Because for the last three years you’ve been saying it’s a great time to buy and really only the first of those three years was an okay time to buy. Many of the folks who bought in years one and two got screwed and aren’t afraid to talk about it.

Just as people talked up the bubble they’re talking about their post-bubble pain which is going to scare everyone who didn’t buy.

Secondly, potential buyers have no clue if it’s a good time to buy or not. Why? They have no trusted advisers. They certainly don’t trust real estate agents hungry to close any deal, they don’t trust the media which tried as long as it could to maintain that things were still rosy when in fact inventory was piling up and nothing was selling, and they don’t trust their financial advisers because their 401k’s just got cut in half.

How do you rebuild the buyers trust and arm them with the information that gets them to buy at your project instead of the one down the road? Especially to out of state buyers who need long distance movers.

Only Invest In What You Can Measure

Whose money do you spend when you market a project? You spend your future buyers money and you can bet they’d rather pay less for that condo than more.

In Seattle, more so than any other city except maybe San Francisco, you have a super high tech community who doesn’t believe in things they can’t measure. It baffles those of us who work in high tech that folks continue to invest in advertising on the sides of buses, in the paper or in the glossy Seattle magazines. Please show me the evidence that the outrageous spend for that is justified while you completely ignore investing in online advertising which is more cost effective and which you can measure its effectiveness and tweak your message on a daily basis enabling you to iterate towards higher conversion numbers. (How do you A/B test a bus ad??)

It also baffles me that many projects will spend tens of thousands of dollars to build a Flash based website but yet don’t have any understanding of how many people visit their site, how many people their site converts to leads, how their site ranks for searches on Google, how their site ties in with their other marketing efforts, etc etc.

Embrace Transparency

I really thought 2008 was going to be the year that a condo project started a blog. Guess not. But don’t let that stop you from starting one tomorrow because I’m now betting that 2009 is going to the year that a project both starts a blog and starts to Twitter (Twitter is similar to blogging but instead of long posts the posts are limited to 140 characters and are more like status updates.)

There are a number of reasons why I’d blog if I had my own condo project but the most important is to keep people up-to-date; it’s shocking to me how many buyers find out news about where they bought from this blog instead of from their site agents or condo team. You should be ashamed of yourselves when that happens!

What could you blog about?

Permit planning & design reviews – how did you listen to the community? What were the compromises or changes you made?

Construction progress – people love pictures. People love hearing about how you agonized over sprinkler placement in their loft.

Move in schedules – take the mystery out of the process.

Delays – communicate openly and honestly. We know it’s not our fault and that it’s because the Kone elevator failed inspection again.

Sales #’s – potential buyers think that no one is buying right now so I’d blog about every sale because every sale is a success story.

Don’t hold anything back. Blog it all. If it’s bad news I will find out about it eventually and blog it here. Wouldn’t you rather talk about it on your own terms first? And if it’s good news WHY AREN’T YOU TELLING ANYONE? By blogging the good and the bad you will start to rebuild credibility with your potential buyers. Hell, even blog about current rental rates in your neighborhood. If you can, make the case why people are better off buying instead of renting. If you can’t, blog about it any way and why people should still buy. BE HONEST.

Blogging is good for your PR because you can bet that the condo bloggers (Seattle has more high quality condo blogs than any other city!) will pay close attention to your blog and will re-blog the interesting bits because bloggers are lazy, they desperately need material. Make it easy for them to blog about you.

No Obligation

Get rid of the stupid mandatory sign in forms at your sales center. If people want to sign up to receive email updates or a phone call from time to time make it clear how they can.

What would you rather have – a lot of low quality leads or a smaller amount of high quality leads who are willingly paying attention?

Make All Your Inventory Available

Your buyers are smart and see right through selling projects in phases and all that other bullshit sales voodoo to manage supply. Put all your inventory online both on your site and in the MLS. If your project is already built photograph every unit. Include those photos with your MLS listing. Give your buyers what they want when they want it. Don’t force them to drive down to your sales center!

Re-think Compensation

People hate being pressured and sold to. With the economy collapsing their bullshit detectors are functioning better than ever.

Why not remove the pressure by trying something radical this year and hiring your site agents as full or part time employees. Compensate them based on how happy the visitors to your sales center are instead of pushing them to close a deal. (Read about how Redfin uses something called Net Promoter Score to measure customer satisfaction.) Yes, you may lose some short term sales but projects are now taking years to sell. Your project’s reputation is something you need to be proud of, make sales center visitors promoters of your project not detractors.

Build Community

Buyers don’t think of themselves as leads or referrals or even buyers. They think of themselves as people. And they don’t think of buying a unit which is part of some amount of inventory that your project needs to sell in order to repay your loans. They think of buying a home. That home when in a condo is part of community.

How do you build community before folks move in? How do you do it online? Fortunately Facebook makes that easy to do. So create a Facebook group and connect people. Buyers will want to meet each other, or at least cyberstalk their new neighbors that they’ll be sharing their common spaces with. You’re organizing social events for them right? They are your best sales force, remember.

In Conclusion…

Buyers, what did I miss? How would you change the way condos are marketed and sold?

Condo developers and marketers, I hope a few of you emerge as leaders in online marketing in ’09 because right now the playing field is wide open with no clear players never mind winners. (I’m betting the winner is a small boutique 10-20 unit project from a developer personally involved in the marketing. Unfortunately off the top of my head I can’t name any developers in that category who really truly get the Internet.)

Disclaimer: I run marketing a Redfin. We help people buy and sell homes by recognizing when folks want to use the web and when they need to talk to a real live person. We believe in providing a no obligation service with a lot of transparency and so far our little experiment in changing the world, one home sale at a time, is going really well. I wrote this because I believe a lot of what Redfin is trying to do in ’09 would work well for some of the condo projects here in Seattle.

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You forgot one “make sure your site uses a LOT of Flash and has terrible navigation/user experience”

nitsuj

You forgot one “make sure your site uses a LOT of Flash and has terrible navigation/user experience”

nitsuj

You forgot one “make sure your site uses a LOT of Flash and has terrible navigation/user experience”

nitsuj

You forgot one “make sure your site uses a LOT of Flash and has terrible navigation/user experience”

nitsuj

You forgot one “make sure your site uses a LOT of Flash and has terrible navigation/user experience”

nitsuj

You forgot one “make sure your site uses a LOT of Flash and has terrible navigation/user experience”

at last! improvement!

Agents, marketers: please re-read Matt Goyer's post above. Again. And again. You've got to stop conducting your business in the same way you've been doing it. Don't be afraid to rethink your process! As a buyer in this market, I can say that every word in his post is ab-so-lute-ly true.

at last! improvement!

Agents, marketers: please re-read Matt Goyer's post above. Again. And again. You've got to stop conducting your business in the same way you've been doing it. Don't be afraid to rethink your process! As a buyer in this market, I can say that every word in his post is ab-so-lute-ly true.

at last! improvement!

Agents, marketers: please re-read Matt Goyer's post above. Again. And again. You've got to stop conducting your business in the same way you've been doing it. Don't be afraid to rethink your process! As a buyer in this market, I can say that every word in his post is ab-so-lute-ly true.

at last! improvement!

Agents, marketers: please re-read Matt Goyer's post above. Again. And again. You've got to stop conducting your business in the same way you've been doing it. Don't be afraid to rethink your process! As a buyer in this market, I can say that every word in his post is ab-so-lute-ly true.

at last! improvement!

Agents, marketers: please re-read Matt Goyer's post above. Again. And again. You've got to stop conducting your business in the same way you've been doing it. Don't be afraid to rethink your process! As a buyer in this market, I can say that every word in his post is ab-so-lute-ly true.

at last! improvement!

Agents, marketers: please re-read Matt Goyer's post above. Again. And again. You've got to stop conducting your business in the same way you've been doing it. Don't be afraid to rethink your process! As a buyer in this market, I can say that every word in his post is ab-so-lute-ly true.

sabzi

All great suggestions, Matt. One more on the build community front: don't forget about the buyers who have moved into your half-sold building. They are the “consumers of your product” and as such can offer valuable feedback on what you can do to help sell the remaining units.

sabzi

All great suggestions, Matt. One more on the build community front: don't forget about the buyers who have moved into your half-sold building. They are the “consumers of your product” and as such can offer valuable feedback on what you can do to help sell the remaining units.

sabzi

All great suggestions, Matt. One more on the build community front: don't forget about the buyers who have moved into your half-sold building. They are the “consumers of your product” and as such can offer valuable feedback on what you can do to help sell the remaining units.

sabzi

All great suggestions, Matt. One more on the build community front: don't forget about the buyers who have moved into your half-sold building. They are the “consumers of your product” and as such can offer valuable feedback on what you can do to help sell the remaining units.

sabzi

All great suggestions, Matt. One more on the build community front: don't forget about the buyers who have moved into your half-sold building. They are the “consumers of your product” and as such can offer valuable feedback on what you can do to help sell the remaining units.

sabzi

All great suggestions, Matt. One more on the build community front: don't forget about the buyers who have moved into your half-sold building. They are the “consumers of your product” and as such can offer valuable feedback on what you can do to help sell the remaining units.

stone

Matt, truly great post. it's why I like to read your blog. Pretty much hit the nail on the head. It pretty sums up how I've been thinking the last two years as a fence sitter.

stone

Matt, truly great post. it's why I like to read your blog. Pretty much hit the nail on the head. It pretty sums up how I've been thinking the last two years as a fence sitter.

stone

Matt, truly great post. it's why I like to read your blog. Pretty much hit the nail on the head. It pretty sums up how I've been thinking the last two years as a fence sitter.

stone

Matt, truly great post. it's why I like to read your blog. Pretty much hit the nail on the head. It pretty sums up how I've been thinking the last two years as a fence sitter.

stone

Matt, truly great post. it's why I like to read your blog. Pretty much hit the nail on the head. It pretty sums up how I've been thinking the last two years as a fence sitter.

stone

Matt, truly great post. it's why I like to read your blog. Pretty much hit the nail on the head. It pretty sums up how I've been thinking the last two years as a fence sitter.

GreenSpaces

Great commentary! I am really excited about new business models coming to the real estate industry. I live in a condo in West Seattle (High Point), but have designs on SLU in 20 years or so…I wonder how much the RE buz will have changed by then. The last 10 years has been achingly SLOW.

Great commentary! I am really excited about new business models coming to the real estate industry. I live in a condo in West Seattle (High Point), but have designs on SLU in 20 years or so…I wonder how much the RE buz will have changed by then. The last 10 years has been achingly SLOW.

Great commentary! I am really excited about new business models coming to the real estate industry. I live in a condo in West Seattle (High Point), but have designs on SLU in 20 years or so…I wonder how much the RE buz will have changed by then. The last 10 years has been achingly SLOW.

Great commentary! I am really excited about new business models coming to the real estate industry. I live in a condo in West Seattle (High Point), but have designs on SLU in 20 years or so…I wonder how much the RE buz will have changed by then. The last 10 years has been achingly SLOW.

Great commentary! I am really excited about new business models coming to the real estate industry. I live in a condo in West Seattle (High Point), but have designs on SLU in 20 years or so…I wonder how much the RE buz will have changed by then. The last 10 years has been achingly SLOW.

Great commentary! I am really excited about new business models coming to the real estate industry. I live in a condo in West Seattle (High Point), but have designs on SLU in 20 years or so…I wonder how much the RE buz will have changed by then. The last 10 years has been achingly SLOW.

Mark W

I got a chuckle once when I spotted the generically attractive couple shopping downtown and touring Pike Place Market that my apartment building has always featured in its marketing literature show up on a big sign at a new downtown condo – I couldn't resist asking the folks in our leasing office if that couple finally moved.

I understand that downtown living is a selling feature for downtown condos, but it makes a lot of the marketing – and thus the projects – look about the same. And because renters (and tourists) have the same access to what downtown offers, it doesn't the case why someone should buy at the featured development.

Give me photos of work in progress and architectural renditions. Give me floorplans. With approximate dimensions – not drawings of odd furniture that often falsely convey that the bedroom is twice as wide as the bed is long, or that the dining area can accommodate a table for six (until I note that the drawn table is somewhat smaller than the bathtub depicted in another room).

What are your amenities? What does a fitness room really mean? A large office table and a PC printer isn't a Business Center.

Don't have a lot of amenities? That may actually be a selling point for folks who realistically understand what features they're not likely to use.

at last! improvement!

Agents, marketers: please re-read Matt Goyer's post above. Again. And again. You've got to stop conducting your business in the same way you've been doing it. Don't be afraid to rethink your process! As a buyer in this market, I can say that every word in his post is ab-so-lute-ly true.

sabzi

All great suggestions, Matt. One more on the build community front: don't forget about the buyers who have moved into your half-sold building. They are the “consumers of your product” and as such can offer valuable feedback on what you can do to help sell the remaining units.

stone

Matt, truly great post. it's why I like to read your blog. Pretty much hit the nail on the head. It pretty sums up how I've been thinking the last two years as a fence sitter.

For better or worse, most of the marketing power (budget) of conventional real estate companies is held by the agents themselves rather than the company itself. The fact that the incumbent real estate companies have a limited marketing budget has actually contributed to their competitive weakness that has allowed redfin and others to completely outclass them in online presence. Not only is their advertising weak or non-existant, their websites are nowhere close to the functionality I get for free from redfin.

Condo developers on the other hand have a far worse excuse. They have complete control over their budget yet still buy ads on buses and in the real estate sections of newspapers. When will real estate professionals realize that a single google search for “belltown condo” has a measurable return on investment? Wendy does!

My disclosure: I'm a Google Analytics Authorized Consultant and more often than not we provide triple digit ROI for clients in just about every industry, including real estate… even now.

Mark W

um, I use Google all the time, and yet I've never once clicked on an ad there. I didn't even notice Matt had ads until he blogged about it. On the other hand, I've never ridden a bus in the metro area, and yet I notice their ads as I'm waiting for the buses to finish running the red light so I can cross the street.

Although I agree that the RE industry could make much better use of the web for marketing purposes (any print ad should have a good web link to more detailed info about the specific property advertised), and consumers are certainly becoming pretty web-savvy, I wouldn't discount some of the other approaches for reaching out, especially for something where there may be generational differences in the target audience. E.g., older folks are more likely to read print newspapers, they may be empty nesters looking to downsize, and they generally have higher incomes and more money to put down. I've got a quite digital life, but I prefer my news paper in print.

Back in the early 2000s, I knew some rather successful realtors (Minnesota and Ohio) who told me that the primary reason they put ads for properties up on the internet was that it made the sellers happy. Same with ads in those little real estate booklets in grocery store lobbies. But both also reported that they never had a sale come through the internet – the vast majority of sales leads came through MLS searches by the agents of prospective buyers.

Of course, the early 2000s was a lifetime ago in Internet years, and whereas Midwestern housebuyers seemed to routinely have their own agents, I haven't gotten the impression that's true as much for condo development buyers here in Seattle.

Disclosure: I'm in R&D for an online info provider interested in applying personalization techniques and ad targeting models to the content search problem

Great commentary! I am really excited about new business models coming to the real estate industry. I live in a condo in West Seattle (High Point), but have designs on SLU in 20 years or so…I wonder how much the RE buz will have changed by then. The last 10 years has been achingly SLOW.

But I predict that it will fall on deaf ears. The transparency that you desire is something that this industry fears a lot, because it has long made people a lot of money from withholding information. This is embedded in the culture of the industry and is a tough wall to break down.

A lot of people selling RE still believe that holding back on some data about a project is a great way to get people to come in person so that they can give their used car salesman pitch and do their Always Be Closing routine on somebody. I think that the Redfin haters out there don't like the idea of bring information to customers so that they can search it themselves, because it removes the opportunity for childish sales tactics like “the takeaway”.

In the next six months the slow down in the local market will make the previous year look like a bull market. Hopefully it will be a catalyst for the kind of stuff that you wrote about here but I won't hold my breath.

But I predict that it will fall on deaf ears. The transparency that you desire is something that this industry fears a lot, because it has long made people a lot of money from withholding information. This is embedded in the culture of the industry and is a tough wall to break down.

A lot of people selling RE still believe that holding back on some data about a project is a great way to get people to come in person so that they can give their used car salesman pitch and do their Always Be Closing routine on somebody. I think that the Redfin haters out there don't like the idea of bring information to customers so that they can search it themselves, because it removes the opportunity for childish sales tactics like “the takeaway”.

In the next six months the slow down in the local market will make the previous year look like a bull market. Hopefully it will be a catalyst for the kind of stuff that you wrote about here but I won't hold my breath.

But I predict that it will fall on deaf ears. The transparency that you desire is something that this industry fears a lot, because it has long made people a lot of money from withholding information. This is embedded in the culture of the industry and is a tough wall to break down.

A lot of people selling RE still believe that holding back on some data about a project is a great way to get people to come in person so that they can give their used car salesman pitch and do their Always Be Closing routine on somebody. I think that the Redfin haters out there don't like the idea of bring information to customers so that they can search it themselves, because it removes the opportunity for childish sales tactics like “the takeaway”.

In the next six months the slow down in the local market will make the previous year look like a bull market. Hopefully it will be a catalyst for the kind of stuff that you wrote about here but I won't hold my breath.

But I predict that it will fall on deaf ears. The transparency that you desire is something that this industry fears a lot, because it has long made people a lot of money from withholding information. This is embedded in the culture of the industry and is a tough wall to break down.

A lot of people selling RE still believe that holding back on some data about a project is a great way to get people to come in person so that they can give their used car salesman pitch and do their Always Be Closing routine on somebody. I think that the Redfin haters out there don't like the idea of bring information to customers so that they can search it themselves, because it removes the opportunity for childish sales tactics like “the takeaway”.

In the next six months the slow down in the local market will make the previous year look like a bull market. Hopefully it will be a catalyst for the kind of stuff that you wrote about here but I won't hold my breath.

But I predict that it will fall on deaf ears. The transparency that you desire is something that this industry fears a lot, because it has long made people a lot of money from withholding information. This is embedded in the culture of the industry and is a tough wall to break down.

A lot of people selling RE still believe that holding back on some data about a project is a great way to get people to come in person so that they can give their used car salesman pitch and do their Always Be Closing routine on somebody. I think that the Redfin haters out there don't like the idea of bring information to customers so that they can search it themselves, because it removes the opportunity for childish sales tactics like “the takeaway”.

In the next six months the slow down in the local market will make the previous year look like a bull market. Hopefully it will be a catalyst for the kind of stuff that you wrote about here but I won't hold my breath.

But I predict that it will fall on deaf ears. The transparency that you desire is something that this industry fears a lot, because it has long made people a lot of money from withholding information. This is embedded in the culture of the industry and is a tough wall to break down.

A lot of people selling RE still believe that holding back on some data about a project is a great way to get people to come in person so that they can give their used car salesman pitch and do their Always Be Closing routine on somebody. I think that the Redfin haters out there don't like the idea of bring information to customers so that they can search it themselves, because it removes the opportunity for childish sales tactics like “the takeaway”.

In the next six months the slow down in the local market will make the previous year look like a bull market. Hopefully it will be a catalyst for the kind of stuff that you wrote about here but I won't hold my breath.

Holy s**t Matt! Amazing post! I do feel bad that people can trust real estate agents. But, this year has caused a lot of agents to get out of the business. All I want to do is defend the agents I work with, but what's the point. Regardless, you made some great points. I love blogging about real estate myself. CAN I OFFER TO HELP ANY DEVELOPERS OR MARKETING COMP. INTERESTED IN TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE INTERNET HERE? I've done pretty good with the one I work on now….

Holy s**t Matt! Amazing post! I do feel bad that people can trust real estate agents. But, this year has caused a lot of agents to get out of the business. All I want to do is defend the agents I work with, but what's the point. Regardless, you made some great points. I love blogging about real estate myself. CAN I OFFER TO HELP ANY DEVELOPERS OR MARKETING COMP. INTERESTED IN TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE INTERNET HERE? I've done pretty good with the one I work on now….

Holy s**t Matt! Amazing post! I do feel bad that people can trust real estate agents. But, this year has caused a lot of agents to get out of the business. All I want to do is defend the agents I work with, but what's the point. Regardless, you made some great points. I love blogging about real estate myself. CAN I OFFER TO HELP ANY DEVELOPERS OR MARKETING COMP. INTERESTED IN TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE INTERNET HERE? I've done pretty good with the one I work on now….

Holy s**t Matt! Amazing post! I do feel bad that people can trust real estate agents. But, this year has caused a lot of agents to get out of the business. All I want to do is defend the agents I work with, but what's the point. Regardless, you made some great points. I love blogging about real estate myself. CAN I OFFER TO HELP ANY DEVELOPERS OR MARKETING COMP. INTERESTED IN TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE INTERNET HERE? I've done pretty good with the one I work on now….

Holy s**t Matt! Amazing post! I do feel bad that people can trust real estate agents. But, this year has caused a lot of agents to get out of the business. All I want to do is defend the agents I work with, but what's the point. Regardless, you made some great points. I love blogging about real estate myself. CAN I OFFER TO HELP ANY DEVELOPERS OR MARKETING COMP. INTERESTED IN TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE INTERNET HERE? I've done pretty good with the one I work on now….

Holy s**t Matt! Amazing post! I do feel bad that people can trust real estate agents. But, this year has caused a lot of agents to get out of the business. All I want to do is defend the agents I work with, but what's the point. Regardless, you made some great points. I love blogging about real estate myself. CAN I OFFER TO HELP ANY DEVELOPERS OR MARKETING COMP. INTERESTED IN TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE INTERNET HERE? I've done pretty good with the one I work on now….

But I predict that it will fall on deaf ears. The transparency that you desire is something that this industry fears a lot, because it has long made people a lot of money from withholding information. This is embedded in the culture of the industry and is a tough wall to break down.

A lot of people selling RE still believe that holding back on some data about a project is a great way to get people to come in person so that they can give their used car salesman pitch and do their Always Be Closing routine on somebody. I think that the Redfin haters out there don't like the idea of bring information to customers so that they can search it themselves, because it removes the opportunity for childish sales tactics like “the takeaway”.

In the next six months the slow down in the local market will make the previous year look like a bull market. Hopefully it will be a catalyst for the kind of stuff that you wrote about here but I won't hold my breath.

nitsuj

Excellent point Coug

nitsuj

Excellent point Coug

nitsuj

Excellent point Coug

nitsuj

Excellent point Coug

nitsuj

Excellent point Coug

nitsuj

Excellent point Coug

GoCougs

How are you supposed to effectively show the lifestyle of a condo owner without a flash video?

There is no way to show parties on your terrace every night, supermodels hanging in the lobby, shopping at Pike Place every day, drinking more wine than water…etc.

Holy s**t Matt! Amazing post! I do feel bad that people can trust real estate agents. But, this year has caused a lot of agents to get out of the business. All I want to do is defend the agents I work with, but what's the point. Regardless, you made some great points. I love blogging about real estate myself. CAN I OFFER TO HELP ANY DEVELOPERS OR MARKETING COMP. INTERESTED IN TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE INTERNET HERE? I've done pretty good with the one I work on now….

o8 buyer

this post is right on. My number one gripe with marketer/developers is that they think people are stupid, ie: at olive8 they switched contractors mid-job ( causing a significant delay) the marketing co./developer claimed it was for “philosophical reasons”… please! like one contractor believed in god and the other didnt. It was because skanska wanted more money to add three extra floors than the developer was willing to pay. Just say it! it makes everything they say suspect when they pull that !@#$

o8 buyer

this post is right on. My number one gripe with marketer/developers is that they think people are stupid, ie: at olive8 they switched contractors mid-job ( causing a significant delay) the marketing co./developer claimed it was for “philosophical reasons”… please! like one contractor believed in god and the other didnt. It was because skanska wanted more money to add three extra floors than the developer was willing to pay. Just say it! it makes everything they say suspect when they pull that !@#$

o8 buyer

this post is right on. My number one gripe with marketer/developers is that they think people are stupid, ie: at olive8 they switched contractors mid-job ( causing a significant delay) the marketing co./developer claimed it was for “philosophical reasons”… please! like one contractor believed in god and the other didnt. It was because skanska wanted more money to add three extra floors than the developer was willing to pay. Just say it! it makes everything they say suspect when they pull that !@#$

o8 buyer

this post is right on. My number one gripe with marketer/developers is that they think people are stupid, ie: at olive8 they switched contractors mid-job ( causing a significant delay) the marketing co./developer claimed it was for “philosophical reasons”… please! like one contractor believed in god and the other didnt. It was because skanska wanted more money to add three extra floors than the developer was willing to pay. Just say it! it makes everything they say suspect when they pull that !@#$

o8 buyer

this post is right on. My number one gripe with marketer/developers is that they think people are stupid, ie: at olive8 they switched contractors mid-job ( causing a significant delay) the marketing co./developer claimed it was for “philosophical reasons”… please! like one contractor believed in god and the other didnt. It was because skanska wanted more money to add three extra floors than the developer was willing to pay. Just say it! it makes everything they say suspect when they pull that !@#$

o8 buyer

this post is right on. My number one gripe with marketer/developers is that they think people are stupid, ie: at olive8 they switched contractors mid-job ( causing a significant delay) the marketing co./developer claimed it was for “philosophical reasons”… please! like one contractor believed in god and the other didnt. It was because skanska wanted more money to add three extra floors than the developer was willing to pay. Just say it! it makes everything they say suspect when they pull that !@#$

Justin

Dido to everyone else. I'll throw in my pet peeve here… What is with the pictures of pike market? Oh my lord, is that man throwing a fish?! I guess this is place to buy… Never mind that it is eight miles away from the market.

Justin

Dido to everyone else. I'll throw in my pet peeve here… What is with the pictures of pike market? Oh my lord, is that man throwing a fish?! I guess this is place to buy… Never mind that it is eight miles away from the market.

Justin

Dido to everyone else. I'll throw in my pet peeve here… What is with the pictures of pike market? Oh my lord, is that man throwing a fish?! I guess this is place to buy… Never mind that it is eight miles away from the market.

Justin

Dido to everyone else. I'll throw in my pet peeve here… What is with the pictures of pike market? Oh my lord, is that man throwing a fish?! I guess this is place to buy… Never mind that it is eight miles away from the market.

Justin

Dido to everyone else. I'll throw in my pet peeve here… What is with the pictures of pike market? Oh my lord, is that man throwing a fish?! I guess this is place to buy… Never mind that it is eight miles away from the market.

Justin

Dido to everyone else. I'll throw in my pet peeve here… What is with the pictures of pike market? Oh my lord, is that man throwing a fish?! I guess this is place to buy… Never mind that it is eight miles away from the market.

seventy4

Maybe you're right, although I think developers have tried the salaried approach over the years as well, and aren't completely convinced of its effectiveness.

If the goal is customer satisfaction, maybe building condos isn't the best way to go about it!

But if the goal is to actually get stuff sold, maybe Redfin's record isn't all that illustrious. Didn't they have something like thirty percent or so of their listings go unsold? And for all the money back and personal services they offer, don't they have like 1% of the local market?

seventy4

Maybe you're right, although I think developers have tried the salaried approach over the years as well, and aren't completely convinced of its effectiveness.

If the goal is customer satisfaction, maybe building condos isn't the best way to go about it!

But if the goal is to actually get stuff sold, maybe Redfin's record isn't all that illustrious. Didn't they have something like thirty percent or so of their listings go unsold? And for all the money back and personal services they offer, don't they have like 1% of the local market?

seventy4

Maybe you're right, although I think developers have tried the salaried approach over the years as well, and aren't completely convinced of its effectiveness.

If the goal is customer satisfaction, maybe building condos isn't the best way to go about it!

But if the goal is to actually get stuff sold, maybe Redfin's record isn't all that illustrious. Didn't they have something like thirty percent or so of their listings go unsold? And for all the money back and personal services they offer, don't they have like 1% of the local market?

seventy4

Maybe you're right, although I think developers have tried the salaried approach over the years as well, and aren't completely convinced of its effectiveness.

If the goal is customer satisfaction, maybe building condos isn't the best way to go about it!

But if the goal is to actually get stuff sold, maybe Redfin's record isn't all that illustrious. Didn't they have something like thirty percent or so of their listings go unsold? And for all the money back and personal services they offer, don't they have like 1% of the local market?

seventy4

Maybe you're right, although I think developers have tried the salaried approach over the years as well, and aren't completely convinced of its effectiveness.

If the goal is customer satisfaction, maybe building condos isn't the best way to go about it!

But if the goal is to actually get stuff sold, maybe Redfin's record isn't all that illustrious. Didn't they have something like thirty percent or so of their listings go unsold? And for all the money back and personal services they offer, don't they have like 1% of the local market?

seventy4

Maybe you're right, although I think developers have tried the salaried approach over the years as well, and aren't completely convinced of its effectiveness.

If the goal is customer satisfaction, maybe building condos isn't the best way to go about it!

But if the goal is to actually get stuff sold, maybe Redfin's record isn't all that illustrious. Didn't they have something like thirty percent or so of their listings go unsold? And for all the money back and personal services they offer, don't they have like 1% of the local market?

nitsuj

Excellent point Coug

o8 buyer

this post is right on. My number one gripe with marketer/developers is that they think people are stupid, ie: at olive8 they switched contractors mid-job ( causing a significant delay) the marketing co./developer claimed it was for “philosophical reasons”… please! like one contractor believed in god and the other didnt. It was because skanska wanted more money to add three extra floors than the developer was willing to pay. Just say it! it makes everything they say suspect when they pull that !@#$

Justin

Dido to everyone else. I'll throw in my pet peeve here… What is with the pictures of pike market? Oh my lord, is that man throwing a fish?! I guess this is place to buy… Never mind that it is eight miles away from the market.

seventy4

Maybe you're right, although I think developers have tried the salaried approach over the years as well, and aren't completely convinced of its effectiveness.

If the goal is customer satisfaction, maybe building condos isn't the best way to go about it!

But if the goal is to actually get stuff sold, maybe Redfin's record isn't all that illustrious. Didn't they have something like thirty percent or so of their listings go unsold? And for all the money back and personal services they offer, don't they have like 1% of the local market?

Other side of the coin

Matt, I think overall this a good post with lots of great points and ideas.

But, here a few things that came to mind when reading:

1. You mentioned buyers don't trust anyone partly because the media has been maintaining that the market is “rosy”. I don't about Seattle, but in Washington, DC it has been anything but rosy in the paper since before the market started to wane.

2. Ad dollars are down overall and what's left is indeed headed online. Developers and sales firms know this, but that doesn't mean other advertising is now worthless. The lack of easy measure of effectiveness I think has definitely helped newspapers in the past, but now savvy marketers are pricing that into the advertising. I find it crazy, but I still hear from new home sales agents that prospects walk in and say their lead source was the classified section of the paper.

3. Every marketing team who has a clue tracks the traffic and conversions on their project's website, most with Google analytics. If you guys aren't doing that in Seattle then that is sad. Either way, how do you know they AREN'T tracking it?

4. The project blog and twitter ideas are great, but publishing certain information could also be used against the developer later in a lawsuit. What if settlement has to be delayed, but you already blogged about the schedule? Now buyers have the information in writing and could potentially use it in court if they wanted out of their contract.

5. Anyone can refuse to fill out a registration form. I've never been to a sales office where the agent said “fill this out or else I'm not showing you anything”. So, if you are getting the contact information for everyone I would say that is the best case scenario. It's not quantity vs. quality, because the quality leads are signing up too.

6. MLS listings – putting every unit in the MLS in a 250+ unit building could be a bit time consuming. However, brokers don't do this because it is stupid, not because they are lazy. Listing a representative sample of listings well allows the agent to withdraw listings when they sell or have been on for too long and substitute new ones. This way no one knows the closing price without searching the land records and the days on market always looks good. Listing every unit would also show the competing projects exactly what you've got to offer allowing them to sell against you more effectively.

7. Regarding salaried agent concept, happiness doesn't necessarily make the developers money. Closings do. What if everyone is happy, but no one is buying? Is you sales person being nice, but not closing effectively? You note that projects are taking years to sell. This is exactly the problem. The developer's proforma includes a % for marketing and commissions. How can they pay someone a salary if that salary ends up going on for 2 or 3 times longer than they expect and their total projected sellout is now down 20%? The commission based compensation model is just easier. Could a seller of a home pay a Redfin agent a salary to sell their home? What if you can't sell it? Then the homeowner is out the cash and has nothing to show for it. Same thing on the builder side. The problem is the incentive. If you're salaried why would you want to sell out quickly? Then you'll just be laid off faster. Not a fun proposition in a market where looking forward there is no new product on the way.

8. The Facebook group thing is a great idea from a buyer's perspective, but a nightmare from a developer's. Let's get the entire back log together in one place so they can all complain to each other, tell how much they paid and what incentives they got. Perfect! BTW – buyers are already doing this on their own – creating groups with Google, Facebook and starting their own building blogs.

Sorry for the long winded comment, but it's never as easy as people make it out to be. I think the current system is flawed as well, but I don't agree with the notion that real estate agents and developers are evil and greedy. It's a tough, high risk business. Agents pay dues to half a dozen organizations including the MLS and have no guarantee that they'll make any money nor do they get any benefits. And, we know what's happening to the developers/builders.

Other side of the coin

Matt, I think overall this a good post with lots of great points and ideas.

But, here a few things that came to mind when reading:

1. You mentioned buyers don't trust anyone partly because the media has been maintaining that the market is “rosy”. I don't about Seattle, but in Washington, DC it has been anything but rosy in the paper since before the market started to wane.

2. Ad dollars are down overall and what's left is indeed headed online. Developers and sales firms know this, but that doesn't mean other advertising is now worthless. The lack of easy measure of effectiveness I think has definitely helped newspapers in the past, but now savvy marketers are pricing that into the advertising. I find it crazy, but I still hear from new home sales agents that prospects walk in and say their lead source was the classified section of the paper.

3. Every marketing team who has a clue tracks the traffic and conversions on their project's website, most with Google analytics. If you guys aren't doing that in Seattle then that is sad. Either way, how do you know they AREN'T tracking it?

4. The project blog and twitter ideas are great, but publishing certain information could also be used against the developer later in a lawsuit. What if settlement has to be delayed, but you already blogged about the schedule? Now buyers have the information in writing and could potentially use it in court if they wanted out of their contract.

5. Anyone can refuse to fill out a registration form. I've never been to a sales office where the agent said “fill this out or else I'm not showing you anything”. So, if you are getting the contact information for everyone I would say that is the best case scenario. It's not quantity vs. quality, because the quality leads are signing up too.

6. MLS listings – putting every unit in the MLS in a 250+ unit building could be a bit time consuming. However, brokers don't do this because it is stupid, not because they are lazy. Listing a representative sample of listings well allows the agent to withdraw listings when they sell or have been on for too long and substitute new ones. This way no one knows the closing price without searching the land records and the days on market always looks good. Listing every unit would also show the competing projects exactly what you've got to offer allowing them to sell against you more effectively.

7. Regarding salaried agent concept, happiness doesn't necessarily make the developers money. Closings do. What if everyone is happy, but no one is buying? Is you sales person being nice, but not closing effectively? You note that projects are taking years to sell. This is exactly the problem. The developer's proforma includes a % for marketing and commissions. How can they pay someone a salary if that salary ends up going on for 2 or 3 times longer than they expect and their total projected sellout is now down 20%? The commission based compensation model is just easier. Could a seller of a home pay a Redfin agent a salary to sell their home? What if you can't sell it? Then the homeowner is out the cash and has nothing to show for it. Same thing on the builder side. The problem is the incentive. If you're salaried why would you want to sell out quickly? Then you'll just be laid off faster. Not a fun proposition in a market where looking forward there is no new product on the way.

8. The Facebook group thing is a great idea from a buyer's perspective, but a nightmare from a developer's. Let's get the entire back log together in one place so they can all complain to each other, tell how much they paid and what incentives they got. Perfect! BTW – buyers are already doing this on their own – creating groups with Google, Facebook and starting their own building blogs.

Sorry for the long winded comment, but it's never as easy as people make it out to be. I think the current system is flawed as well, but I don't agree with the notion that real estate agents and developers are evil and greedy. It's a tough, high risk business. Agents pay dues to half a dozen organizations including the MLS and have no guarantee that they'll make any money nor do they get any benefits. And, we know what's happening to the developers/builders.

Other side of the coin

Matt, I think overall this a good post with lots of great points and ideas.

But, here a few things that came to mind when reading:

1. You mentioned buyers don't trust anyone partly because the media has been maintaining that the market is “rosy”. I don't about Seattle, but in Washington, DC it has been anything but rosy in the paper since before the market started to wane.

2. Ad dollars are down overall and what's left is indeed headed online. Developers and sales firms know this, but that doesn't mean other advertising is now worthless. The lack of easy measure of effectiveness I think has definitely helped newspapers in the past, but now savvy marketers are pricing that into the advertising. I find it crazy, but I still hear from new home sales agents that prospects walk in and say their lead source was the classified section of the paper.

3. Every marketing team who has a clue tracks the traffic and conversions on their project's website, most with Google analytics. If you guys aren't doing that in Seattle then that is sad. Either way, how do you know they AREN'T tracking it?

4. The project blog and twitter ideas are great, but publishing certain information could also be used against the developer later in a lawsuit. What if settlement has to be delayed, but you already blogged about the schedule? Now buyers have the information in writing and could potentially use it in court if they wanted out of their contract.

5. Anyone can refuse to fill out a registration form. I've never been to a sales office where the agent said “fill this out or else I'm not showing you anything”. So, if you are getting the contact information for everyone I would say that is the best case scenario. It's not quantity vs. quality, because the quality leads are signing up too.

6. MLS listings – putting every unit in the MLS in a 250+ unit building could be a bit time consuming. However, brokers don't do this because it is stupid, not because they are lazy. Listing a representative sample of listings well allows the agent to withdraw listings when they sell or have been on for too long and substitute new ones. This way no one knows the closing price without searching the land records and the days on market always looks good. Listing every unit would also show the competing projects exactly what you've got to offer allowing them to sell against you more effectively.

7. Regarding salaried agent concept, happiness doesn't necessarily make the developers money. Closings do. What if everyone is happy, but no one is buying? Is you sales person being nice, but not closing effectively? You note that projects are taking years to sell. This is exactly the problem. The developer's proforma includes a % for marketing and commissions. How can they pay someone a salary if that salary ends up going on for 2 or 3 times longer than they expect and their total projected sellout is now down 20%? The commission based compensation model is just easier. Could a seller of a home pay a Redfin agent a salary to sell their home? What if you can't sell it? Then the homeowner is out the cash and has nothing to show for it. Same thing on the builder side. The problem is the incentive. If you're salaried why would you want to sell out quickly? Then you'll just be laid off faster. Not a fun proposition in a market where looking forward there is no new product on the way.

8. The Facebook group thing is a great idea from a buyer's perspective, but a nightmare from a developer's. Let's get the entire back log together in one place so they can all complain to each other, tell how much they paid and what incentives they got. Perfect! BTW – buyers are already doing this on their own – creating groups with Google, Facebook and starting their own building blogs.

Sorry for the long winded comment, but it's never as easy as people make it out to be. I think the current system is flawed as well, but I don't agree with the notion that real estate agents and developers are evil and greedy. It's a tough, high risk business. Agents pay dues to half a dozen organizations including the MLS and have no guarantee that they'll make any money nor do they get any benefits. And, we know what's happening to the developers/builders.

Other side of the coin

Matt, I think overall this a good post with lots of great points and ideas.

But, here a few things that came to mind when reading:

1. You mentioned buyers don't trust anyone partly because the media has been maintaining that the market is “rosy”. I don't about Seattle, but in Washington, DC it has been anything but rosy in the paper since before the market started to wane.

2. Ad dollars are down overall and what's left is indeed headed online. Developers and sales firms know this, but that doesn't mean other advertising is now worthless. The lack of easy measure of effectiveness I think has definitely helped newspapers in the past, but now savvy marketers are pricing that into the advertising. I find it crazy, but I still hear from new home sales agents that prospects walk in and say their lead source was the classified section of the paper.

3. Every marketing team who has a clue tracks the traffic and conversions on their project's website, most with Google analytics. If you guys aren't doing that in Seattle then that is sad. Either way, how do you know they AREN'T tracking it?

4. The project blog and twitter ideas are great, but publishing certain information could also be used against the developer later in a lawsuit. What if settlement has to be delayed, but you already blogged about the schedule? Now buyers have the information in writing and could potentially use it in court if they wanted out of their contract.

5. Anyone can refuse to fill out a registration form. I've never been to a sales office where the agent said “fill this out or else I'm not showing you anything”. So, if you are getting the contact information for everyone I would say that is the best case scenario. It's not quantity vs. quality, because the quality leads are signing up too.

6. MLS listings – putting every unit in the MLS in a 250+ unit building could be a bit time consuming. However, brokers don't do this because it is stupid, not because they are lazy. Listing a representative sample of listings well allows the agent to withdraw listings when they sell or have been on for too long and substitute new ones. This way no one knows the closing price without searching the land records and the days on market always looks good. Listing every unit would also show the competing projects exactly what you've got to offer allowing them to sell against you more effectively.

7. Regarding salaried agent concept, happiness doesn't necessarily make the developers money. Closings do. What if everyone is happy, but no one is buying? Is you sales person being nice, but not closing effectively? You note that projects are taking years to sell. This is exactly the problem. The developer's proforma includes a % for marketing and commissions. How can they pay someone a salary if that salary ends up going on for 2 or 3 times longer than they expect and their total projected sellout is now down 20%? The commission based compensation model is just easier. Could a seller of a home pay a Redfin agent a salary to sell their home? What if you can't sell it? Then the homeowner is out the cash and has nothing to show for it. Same thing on the builder side. The problem is the incentive. If you're salaried why would you want to sell out quickly? Then you'll just be laid off faster. Not a fun proposition in a market where looking forward there is no new product on the way.

8. The Facebook group thing is a great idea from a buyer's perspective, but a nightmare from a developer's. Let's get the entire back log together in one place so they can all complain to each other, tell how much they paid and what incentives they got. Perfect! BTW – buyers are already doing this on their own – creating groups with Google, Facebook and starting their own building blogs.

Sorry for the long winded comment, but it's never as easy as people make it out to be. I think the current system is flawed as well, but I don't agree with the notion that real estate agents and developers are evil and greedy. It's a tough, high risk business. Agents pay dues to half a dozen organizations including the MLS and have no guarantee that they'll make any money nor do they get any benefits. And, we know what's happening to the developers/builders.

Other side of the coin

Matt, I think overall this a good post with lots of great points and ideas.

But, here a few things that came to mind when reading:

1. You mentioned buyers don't trust anyone partly because the media has been maintaining that the market is “rosy”. I don't about Seattle, but in Washington, DC it has been anything but rosy in the paper since before the market started to wane.

2. Ad dollars are down overall and what's left is indeed headed online. Developers and sales firms know this, but that doesn't mean other advertising is now worthless. The lack of easy measure of effectiveness I think has definitely helped newspapers in the past, but now savvy marketers are pricing that into the advertising. I find it crazy, but I still hear from new home sales agents that prospects walk in and say their lead source was the classified section of the paper.

3. Every marketing team who has a clue tracks the traffic and conversions on their project's website, most with Google analytics. If you guys aren't doing that in Seattle then that is sad. Either way, how do you know they AREN'T tracking it?

4. The project blog and twitter ideas are great, but publishing certain information could also be used against the developer later in a lawsuit. What if settlement has to be delayed, but you already blogged about the schedule? Now buyers have the information in writing and could potentially use it in court if they wanted out of their contract.

5. Anyone can refuse to fill out a registration form. I've never been to a sales office where the agent said “fill this out or else I'm not showing you anything”. So, if you are getting the contact information for everyone I would say that is the best case scenario. It's not quantity vs. quality, because the quality leads are signing up too.

6. MLS listings – putting every unit in the MLS in a 250+ unit building could be a bit time consuming. However, brokers don't do this because it is stupid, not because they are lazy. Listing a representative sample of listings well allows the agent to withdraw listings when they sell or have been on for too long and substitute new ones. This way no one knows the closing price without searching the land records and the days on market always looks good. Listing every unit would also show the competing projects exactly what you've got to offer allowing them to sell against you more effectively.

7. Regarding salaried agent concept, happiness doesn't necessarily make the developers money. Closings do. What if everyone is happy, but no one is buying? Is you sales person being nice, but not closing effectively? You note that projects are taking years to sell. This is exactly the problem. The developer's proforma includes a % for marketing and commissions. How can they pay someone a salary if that salary ends up going on for 2 or 3 times longer than they expect and their total projected sellout is now down 20%? The commission based compensation model is just easier. Could a seller of a home pay a Redfin agent a salary to sell their home? What if you can't sell it? Then the homeowner is out the cash and has nothing to show for it. Same thing on the builder side. The problem is the incentive. If you're salaried why would you want to sell out quickly? Then you'll just be laid off faster. Not a fun proposition in a market where looking forward there is no new product on the way.

8. The Facebook group thing is a great idea from a buyer's perspective, but a nightmare from a developer's. Let's get the entire back log together in one place so they can all complain to each other, tell how much they paid and what incentives they got. Perfect! BTW – buyers are already doing this on their own – creating groups with Google, Facebook and starting their own building blogs.

Sorry for the long winded comment, but it's never as easy as people make it out to be. I think the current system is flawed as well, but I don't agree with the notion that real estate agents and developers are evil and greedy. It's a tough, high risk business. Agents pay dues to half a dozen organizations including the MLS and have no guarantee that they'll make any money nor do they get any benefits. And, we know what's happening to the developers/builders.

Other side of the coin

Matt, I think overall this a good post with lots of great points and ideas.

But, here a few things that came to mind when reading:

1. You mentioned buyers don't trust anyone partly because the media has been maintaining that the market is “rosy”. I don't about Seattle, but in Washington, DC it has been anything but rosy in the paper since before the market started to wane.

2. Ad dollars are down overall and what's left is indeed headed online. Developers and sales firms know this, but that doesn't mean other advertising is now worthless. The lack of easy measure of effectiveness I think has definitely helped newspapers in the past, but now savvy marketers are pricing that into the advertising. I find it crazy, but I still hear from new home sales agents that prospects walk in and say their lead source was the classified section of the paper.

3. Every marketing team who has a clue tracks the traffic and conversions on their project's website, most with Google analytics. If you guys aren't doing that in Seattle then that is sad. Either way, how do you know they AREN'T tracking it?

4. The project blog and twitter ideas are great, but publishing certain information could also be used against the developer later in a lawsuit. What if settlement has to be delayed, but you already blogged about the schedule? Now buyers have the information in writing and could potentially use it in court if they wanted out of their contract.

5. Anyone can refuse to fill out a registration form. I've never been to a sales office where the agent said “fill this out or else I'm not showing you anything”. So, if you are getting the contact information for everyone I would say that is the best case scenario. It's not quantity vs. quality, because the quality leads are signing up too.

6. MLS listings – putting every unit in the MLS in a 250+ unit building could be a bit time consuming. However, brokers don't do this because it is stupid, not because they are lazy. Listing a representative sample of listings well allows the agent to withdraw listings when they sell or have been on for too long and substitute new ones. This way no one knows the closing price without searching the land records and the days on market always looks good. Listing every unit would also show the competing projects exactly what you've got to offer allowing them to sell against you more effectively.

7. Regarding salaried agent concept, happiness doesn't necessarily make the developers money. Closings do. What if everyone is happy, but no one is buying? Is you sales person being nice, but not closing effectively? You note that projects are taking years to sell. This is exactly the problem. The developer's proforma includes a % for marketing and commissions. How can they pay someone a salary if that salary ends up going on for 2 or 3 times longer than they expect and their total projected sellout is now down 20%? The commission based compensation model is just easier. Could a seller of a home pay a Redfin agent a salary to sell their home? What if you can't sell it? Then the homeowner is out the cash and has nothing to show for it. Same thing on the builder side. The problem is the incentive. If you're salaried why would you want to sell out quickly? Then you'll just be laid off faster. Not a fun proposition in a market where looking forward there is no new product on the way.

8. The Facebook group thing is a great idea from a buyer's perspective, but a nightmare from a developer's. Let's get the entire back log together in one place so they can all complain to each other, tell how much they paid and what incentives they got. Perfect! BTW – buyers are already doing this on their own – creating groups with Google, Facebook and starting their own building blogs.

Sorry for the long winded comment, but it's never as easy as people make it out to be. I think the current system is flawed as well, but I don't agree with the notion that real estate agents and developers are evil and greedy. It's a tough, high risk business. Agents pay dues to half a dozen organizations including the MLS and have no guarantee that they'll make any money nor do they get any benefits. And, we know what's happening to the developers/builders.

Other side of the coin

Matt, I think overall this a good post with lots of great points and ideas.

But, here a few things that came to mind when reading:

1. You mentioned buyers don't trust anyone partly because the media has been maintaining that the market is “rosy”. I don't about Seattle, but in Washington, DC it has been anything but rosy in the paper since before the market started to wane.

2. Ad dollars are down overall and what's left is indeed headed online. Developers and sales firms know this, but that doesn't mean other advertising is now worthless. The lack of easy measure of effectiveness I think has definitely helped newspapers in the past, but now savvy marketers are pricing that into the advertising. I find it crazy, but I still hear from new home sales agents that prospects walk in and say their lead source was the classified section of the paper.

3. Every marketing team who has a clue tracks the traffic and conversions on their project's website, most with Google analytics. If you guys aren't doing that in Seattle then that is sad. Either way, how do you know they AREN'T tracking it?

4. The project blog and twitter ideas are great, but publishing certain information could also be used against the developer later in a lawsuit. What if settlement has to be delayed, but you already blogged about the schedule? Now buyers have the information in writing and could potentially use it in court if they wanted out of their contract.

5. Anyone can refuse to fill out a registration form. I've never been to a sales office where the agent said “fill this out or else I'm not showing you anything”. So, if you are getting the contact information for everyone I would say that is the best case scenario. It's not quantity vs. quality, because the quality leads are signing up too.

6. MLS listings – putting every unit in the MLS in a 250+ unit building could be a bit time consuming. However, brokers don't do this because it is stupid, not because they are lazy. Listing a representative sample of listings well allows the agent to withdraw listings when they sell or have been on for too long and substitute new ones. This way no one knows the closing price without searching the land records and the days on market always looks good. Listing every unit would also show the competing projects exactly what you've got to offer allowing them to sell against you more effectively.

7. Regarding salaried agent concept, happiness doesn't necessarily make the developers money. Closings do. What if everyone is happy, but no one is buying? Is you sales person being nice, but not closing effectively? You note that projects are taking years to sell. This is exactly the problem. The developer's proforma includes a % for marketing and commissions. How can they pay someone a salary if that salary ends up going on for 2 or 3 times longer than they expect and their total projected sellout is now down 20%? The commission based compensation model is just easier. Could a seller of a home pay a Redfin agent a salary to sell their home? What if you can't sell it? Then the homeowner is out the cash and has nothing to show for it. Same thing on the builder side. The problem is the incentive. If you're salaried why would you want to sell out quickly? Then you'll just be laid off faster. Not a fun proposition in a market where looking forward there is no new product on the way.

8. The Facebook group thing is a great idea from a buyer's perspective, but a nightmare from a developer's. Let's get the entire back log together in one place so they can all complain to each other, tell how much they paid and what incentives they got. Perfect! BTW – buyers are already doing this on their own – creating groups with Google, Facebook and starting their own building blogs.

Sorry for the long winded comment, but it's never as easy as people make it out to be. I think the current system is flawed as well, but I don't agree with the notion that real estate agents and developers are evil and greedy. It's a tough, high risk business. Agents pay dues to half a dozen organizations including the MLS and have no guarantee that they'll make any money nor do they get any benefits. And, we know what's happening to the developers/builders.

The reality of todayâ€™s real estate market is that folks donâ€™t believe condo marketers or real estate agents any more. Why? Because for the last three years youâ€™ve been saying itâ€™s a great time to buy and really only the first of those three years was an okay time to buy. Many of the folks who bought in years one and two got screwed and arenâ€™t afraid to talk about it.”

Such as a guy who works for Redfin who bought a unit at Trace and thought he could flip a unit he bought six months prior? I appreciate the object lesson of this post, but it would have more weight it it weren't coming from a fox in the hen house — even if the fox is wearing a few feathers these days.

That said, I give you points for transparency.

Here's the low down on how to market/sell a condo in 2009: Be honest, don't bull$#!t the buyer, and cut to the chase. We're all tired of the offer/counter-offer model. Market that condo like it's a Scion: This is price, add the finishes you want, recalculate, and we're done.

The reality of todayâ€™s real estate market is that folks donâ€™t believe condo marketers or real estate agents any more. Why? Because for the last three years youâ€™ve been saying itâ€™s a great time to buy and really only the first of those three years was an okay time to buy. Many of the folks who bought in years one and two got screwed and arenâ€™t afraid to talk about it.”

Such as a guy who works for Redfin who bought a unit at Trace and thought he could flip a unit he bought six months prior? I appreciate the object lesson of this post, but it would have more weight it it weren't coming from a fox in the hen house — even if the fox is wearing a few feathers these days.

That said, I give you points for transparency.

Here's the low down on how to market/sell a condo in 2009: Be honest, don't bull$#!t the buyer, and cut to the chase. We're all tired of the offer/counter-offer model. Market that condo like it's a Scion: This is price, add the finishes you want, recalculate, and we're done.

The reality of todayâ€™s real estate market is that folks donâ€™t believe condo marketers or real estate agents any more. Why? Because for the last three years youâ€™ve been saying itâ€™s a great time to buy and really only the first of those three years was an okay time to buy. Many of the folks who bought in years one and two got screwed and arenâ€™t afraid to talk about it.”

Such as a guy who works for Redfin who bought a unit at Trace and thought he could flip a unit he bought six months prior? I appreciate the object lesson of this post, but it would have more weight it it weren't coming from a fox in the hen house — even if the fox is wearing a few feathers these days.

That said, I give you points for transparency.

Here's the low down on how to market/sell a condo in 2009: Be honest, don't bull$#!t the buyer, and cut to the chase. We're all tired of the offer/counter-offer model. Market that condo like it's a Scion: This is price, add the finishes you want, recalculate, and we're done.

The reality of todayâ€™s real estate market is that folks donâ€™t believe condo marketers or real estate agents any more. Why? Because for the last three years youâ€™ve been saying itâ€™s a great time to buy and really only the first of those three years was an okay time to buy. Many of the folks who bought in years one and two got screwed and arenâ€™t afraid to talk about it.”

Such as a guy who works for Redfin who bought a unit at Trace and thought he could flip a unit he bought six months prior? I appreciate the object lesson of this post, but it would have more weight it it weren't coming from a fox in the hen house — even if the fox is wearing a few feathers these days.

That said, I give you points for transparency.

Here's the low down on how to market/sell a condo in 2009: Be honest, don't bull$#!t the buyer, and cut to the chase. We're all tired of the offer/counter-offer model. Market that condo like it's a Scion: This is price, add the finishes you want, recalculate, and we're done.

The reality of todayâ€™s real estate market is that folks donâ€™t believe condo marketers or real estate agents any more. Why? Because for the last three years youâ€™ve been saying itâ€™s a great time to buy and really only the first of those three years was an okay time to buy. Many of the folks who bought in years one and two got screwed and arenâ€™t afraid to talk about it.”

Such as a guy who works for Redfin who bought a unit at Trace and thought he could flip a unit he bought six months prior? I appreciate the object lesson of this post, but it would have more weight it it weren't coming from a fox in the hen house — even if the fox is wearing a few feathers these days.

That said, I give you points for transparency.

Here's the low down on how to market/sell a condo in 2009: Be honest, don't bull$#!t the buyer, and cut to the chase. We're all tired of the offer/counter-offer model. Market that condo like it's a Scion: This is price, add the finishes you want, recalculate, and we're done.

The reality of todayâ€™s real estate market is that folks donâ€™t believe condo marketers or real estate agents any more. Why? Because for the last three years youâ€™ve been saying itâ€™s a great time to buy and really only the first of those three years was an okay time to buy. Many of the folks who bought in years one and two got screwed and arenâ€™t afraid to talk about it.”

Such as a guy who works for Redfin who bought a unit at Trace and thought he could flip a unit he bought six months prior? I appreciate the object lesson of this post, but it would have more weight it it weren't coming from a fox in the hen house — even if the fox is wearing a few feathers these days.

That said, I give you points for transparency.

Here's the low down on how to market/sell a condo in 2009: Be honest, don't bull$#!t the buyer, and cut to the chase. We're all tired of the offer/counter-offer model. Market that condo like it's a Scion: This is price, add the finishes you want, recalculate, and we're done.

The reality of todayâ€™s real estate market is that folks donâ€™t believe condo marketers or real estate agents any more. Why? Because for the last three years youâ€™ve been saying itâ€™s a great time to buy and really only the first of those three years was an okay time to buy. Many of the folks who bought in years one and two got screwed and arenâ€™t afraid to talk about it.”

Such as a guy who works for Redfin who bought a unit at Trace and thought he could flip a unit he bought six months prior? I appreciate the object lesson of this post, but it would have more weight it it weren't coming from a fox in the hen house — even if the fox is wearing a few feathers these days.

That said, I give you points for transparency.

Here's the low down on how to market/sell a condo in 2009: Be honest, don't bull$#!t the buyer, and cut to the chase. We're all tired of the offer/counter-offer model. Market that condo like it's a Scion: This is price, add the finishes you want, recalculate, and we're done.

Condo developers and marketers, I hope a few of you emerge as leaders in online marketing in â€˜09 because fidelity 401k right now the playing field is wide open with no clear players never mind winners. (Iâ€™m betting the winner is a small boutique 10-20 unit project from a developer personally involved in the marketing. Unfortunately off the top of my head I canâ€™t name any developers in that category who really truly get the Internet.)

sharoncfejes

Condo developers and marketers, I hope a few of you emerge as leaders in online marketing in â€˜09 because fidelity 401k right now the playing field is wide open with no clear players never mind winners. (Iâ€™m betting the winner is a small boutique 10-20 unit project from a developer personally involved in the marketing. Unfortunately off the top of my head I canâ€™t name any developers in that category who really truly get the Internet.)

sharoncfejes

Condo developers and marketers, I hope a few of you emerge as leaders in online marketing in â€˜09 because fidelity 401k right now the playing field is wide open with no clear players never mind winners. (Iâ€™m betting the winner is a small boutique 10-20 unit project from a developer personally involved in the marketing. Unfortunately off the top of my head I canâ€™t name any developers in that category who really truly get the Internet.)

sharoncfejes

Condo developers and marketers, I hope a few of you emerge as leaders in online marketing in â€˜09 because fidelity 401k right now the playing field is wide open with no clear players never mind winners. (Iâ€™m betting the winner is a small boutique 10-20 unit project from a developer personally involved in the marketing. Unfortunately off the top of my head I canâ€™t name any developers in that category who really truly get the Internet.)

patricksbiggs

The article from The Smoking Gun suggests that each company was not only setup as a website but as an actual legal entity. A search of filings with the California Secretary of State shows a filing for Cold Stream Productions, LLC on November 13, 2006. The business address is listed as 1800 http://www.chase.com Century Park East, 10th Floor in Los Angeles, California. This is an office park. The registered agent is Eisner, Frank and Kahan, which IMDB lists as the production legal team.There are no Secretary of State filings for the other companies. However, a search of Los Angeles County records show the following fictious name filings

patricksbiggs

The article from The Smoking Gun suggests that each company was not only setup as a website but as an actual legal entity. A search of filings with the California Secretary of State shows a filing for Cold Stream Productions, LLC on November 13, 2006. The business address is listed as 1800 http://www.chase.com Century Park East, 10th Floor in Los Angeles, California. This is an office park. The registered agent is Eisner, Frank and Kahan, which IMDB lists as the production legal team.There are no Secretary of State filings for the other companies. However, a search of Los Angeles County records show the following fictious name filings

Will Ryan

I agree wholeheartedly, however I am a fan of solutions & examples, not just gripes about the current problems. Do you have any examples of developers that are succeeding? I see many on twitter now, many on facebook – a number with blogs, “build-its”, video & otherwise.

Anyone see someone who is succeeding? Things that are working?

Will Ryan

I agree wholeheartedly, however I am a fan of solutions & examples, not just gripes about the current problems. Do you have any examples of developers that are succeeding? I see many on twitter now, many on facebook – a number with blogs, “build-its”, video & otherwise.

Anyone see someone who is succeeding? Things that are working?

Will Ryan

I agree wholeheartedly, however I am a fan of solutions & examples, not just gripes about the current problems. Do you have any examples of developers that are succeeding? I see many on twitter now, many on facebook – a number with blogs, “build-its”, video & otherwise.

Anyone see someone who is succeeding? Things that are working?

hairwrappingandhairbraiding

Los Angeles has so much to offer from city life to beautiful scenery â€“ any one looking to move should certainly consider Los Angeles as one of their choices. If you are starting a new life, looking for a new career or looking to raise a family you should consider Los Angeles.